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Trump and Obama Speeches Are Startlingly Similar – Here Are Two Big Reasons Why

President Donald Trump and President Barack Obama may seem like political polar opposites, but their rhetoric has far more in common than you would think, according to a new analysis of their speeches.

Two University of Minnesota professors took Trump’s “more substantial speeches,” defined for the analysis as 500 words or longer, and compared them with a database of presidential speeches that were gathered based on the same guidelines.

Glenn discussed the study on radio Thursday and pointed out that both liberals and conservatives should notice similarities between the two presidents. People on the left get upset if Obama is compared to Trump, while Trump supporters feel the same with respect to Obama.

“’How dare you?’ Both sides, locked into it,” Glenn said.

The professors ran the speeches through Diction, a content analysis computer program that holds 33 dictionaries specializing in political speech. Diction searched for words from the political dictionaries and calculated the percentage that those particular words represented in a typical speech sample.

Obama and Trump share two key similarities that make them distinct from every previous president: more self-referential rhetoric using “I” and “me” as well as high levels of “tenacity,” or calls to action.

“These two have a marked difference from any of the other presidents,” Glenn explained.

While Obama’s speeches were 69 percent more self-referential than the presidential average, Trump’s speeches have been 89 percent more self-referential. Obama and Trump are also the only presidents to surpass the average for tenacious rhetoric by a “substantial” percentage, the researchers said. “Tenacity” was defined by “must,” “need” and other words that are used to connote immediacy.

GLENN: Hmm. There's an interesting study out. You know, people -- people just cannot see if they are on the left and they despise Donald Trump and they're worried about him, they cannot see the -- the similarities to how we felt about Barack Obama. They just can't see it.

You bring it up: How dare you. You talk to people -- Donald Trump. They love Donald Trump. And you say, "Well, he's got a lot of the same patterns of Barack Obama."

"How dare you." Both sides, locked into it.

There is an analysis that has just been done between Barack Obama and Donald Trump. They took all of their speeches, anything I think over 500 words, and put them in for an analysis. And they ran this through a program called Diction. It contains 33 separate dictionaries, tailored to political speeches. It searches text for words contained in the designated dictionaries, then calculates the number of words from each dictionary that would be present in the typical 500-word sample. So there's a couple of things.

They found that in contrast to all other presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump are the closest of any of them. That these two have a marked difference from any of the other presidents, and they are neck-and-neck.

Here's what they found: They have more self-references in their speeches. I, I, me, me. It's me, it's me, it's me. It's I, I, I, I. It's me, me, me, me.

Obama's rhetoric is 69 percent more self-referential than the presidential average -- 69 percent. Trump exceeds Obama only by 20 points.

Trump employs 50 percent more first-person pronouns than the second most heavily self-referential president after Obama, and that is Gerald Ford. He is twice as self-referential as the post-war presidential average.

Second, tenacity. This -- the system pulls out and files under tenacity. They look for series of words of must, need. Anything that -- that has the feeling of absolute certainty.

President Obama, 45 percent more tenacious than the presidential average. Trump's rhetoric is more tenacious than Obama's. But they're the only -- the two presidents -- only two presidents that actually break out. Everybody else is, we need to talk about these things. We need to do this. The other is, we must act now.

Then there's one other thing: Both Obama and Trump stand out among all of the other presidents in their language as saying things like nobody knows the system better than me. There's nobody else that can fix this.

I am -- I am uniquely qualified because...

Both Obama and Trump stand out among all other presidents. So for those people who think that Barack Obama was God and that Donald Trump is Satan and you can't understand how people didn't see this with Barack Obama, it's because you liked his policies or thought he was on your side. Half of the country thought he was on the other side.

Half of the country was dismissed by Donald Trump -- by Barack Obama. Just dismissed. Mocked. Ridiculed.

I love it when these Teabaggers -- when Donald Trump is mocking you and mocking the things that you hold dear, remember that happened over here first. We were feeling that for eight years. And you didn't listen and didn't pay attention.

For those of us on the -- on the other side of the aisle, let's not treat people the way we hated being treated ourself.

The real problem here is: We used to look for honesty. That's what we were looking for. Honesty.

Strength in leadership was way back. Honesty. Then somebody who shared my values. That's what we were looking for.

Now we're looking for strength. Be careful on what you wish for. Strength doesn't come from a president or the Oval Office. Strength comes from its people. Strength comes from the -- the character of a country's people.

A president could launch a war, but it's the people that are going to win it. A president could do something that would cause just economic chaos, a president could destroy what was the greatest health care system in the world. But a president nor Congress can fix it again.

It's going to have to come from the people. What we decide to do with our day every day.

That's -- that's what's going to save our families. That's what we get up to do every single day.

There's a phrase that I read when I was, oh, in my 30s and I was sobering up and I was trying to find answers. And it was, that which you gaze upon, you shall become. What are we gazing upon? What are we spending all of our time and our energy on?

I was a bad dad last night. I've had -- I think I'm at the top of my stress level. And I'm so tired when I get home. I've been getting home at about seven or 8 o'clock at night. And my kids need my attention. And my wife needs attention.

And I put my hand on the doorknob, and I think, "All I want to do is go to bed." I am so tired. And my family wants my attention and needs my attention. And what makes it, I guess, better, but in some ways worse, that's all I want to do is give them my attention. I just want the energy to be able to give them my full attention and to be with them.

My son, his voice changed this summer. I just thought like eight months ago, he had the perfect Charlie Brown voice. He always has. He sounds like Charlie Brown, or used to. And I wanted to record him reading some Charlie Brown. And I just thought of it this spring. And I thought, "I've got to do it before his voice changes." His voice changed.

This is my first son. That has thrown me for a loop. It's not -- it's like his changed. It's not like talking to my son anymore. My little boy anymore.

I don't want to miss anymore of their childhood. Last night, I came home. We were so tired. I tried to do what little I could with everything. And then everybody was like, "Brush your teeth. Do this. Do that."

"I'm not going to argue with you anymore. Get up to bed."

And I just couldn't take it. And I snapped.

Is this really what we're spending our time on? What little time we have, we're arguing. Get your ass upstairs and brush your damn teeth, or I'll take the braces off of your teeth myself.

You've been sick all day. Your mother has asked you to go to bed. Get your ass in bed.

What little time we have, we're spending it arguing with each other. I'll bet you that's happening in your family as well. And it's happening in our family -- our country. Instead of doing something great, instead of doing something worthwhile, instead of building something that makes people stand back and go, damn, look at those people, we're wasting all of our time arguing with each other.

You want to talk about North Korea. Good, then let's talk about North Korea. Let's talk about the millions that could die and the -- and the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, that are being tortured. And definitely the millions that are being starved to death. And we've not cared.

What have we done about it? Nothing. And now we -- now we're all so damn convinced that it's time to go to war. Why? Why? Why?

Because the press has decided we have to pick this up now? Because the president has said something and we can't go back on his word, we can't look weak? I don't care how we look anymore. Can we do the right thing for once? Can we do the right thing because it is the right thing? Not because we have to.

But we're never going to get there, until those who know they have to brush their teeth. Go upstairs and brush their freaking teeth. And those who have got to put the video game down because you're not supposed to be playing video games at this time. Put the damn video game down. And we stop wasting what little time we have arguing and we actually come together and try to do something positive with our time.

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Unveiling the secret to transforming angry boys into real men

The world has a plentiful, seemingly endless supply of angry boys. What it's lacking is real MEN. Glenn Beck shares the secret that our young men must learn if they truly want to protect and perfect our country.

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: There's a difference between a revival and an awakening. We are in a revival right now, but that doesn't necessarily lead to anything. Except, oh, I have to re-learn those principles. But that doesn't mean you apply them in your life. Okay?

That's an awakening. There's been two great awakenings in American history. One brought us the American Revolution. The second one brought us the Civil War and the freedom of slaves.

We have the possibility of going into a third great awakening. That's the only thing that will save us. If you don't know the difference between a revival and an awakening. Let me give you the negative print of a godly awakening. Our kids right now, they don't have any purpose. They don't have any meaning.

They look at everything, and it doesn't -- it's not real. None of it is real. It's money. It's fame.

It's -- you know, it's ever changing truths and definitions. And they have no purpose in their life. Okay?

So they're looking for that. Because man has to have purpose in his life. Man has to search for meaning.

So they're searching for meaning. And they found a group of people that actually mean something. And they're willing to die for it. And it's ISIS.

And so they're like, at least these people believe in something. They believe it. And they're willing to die for it. I'm going to stand with them. And they put that twisted understanding into action. That's the -- that is -- that's an awakening. It's just an awakening to the dark side. And that one is already happening. It has to happen on the good side. And let me speak directly to young men: Look, you are inheriting a very loud, angry, cynical and worst of all spiritually starving and malnourished society. And you are being sold a future of cheap pleasures and hollow heroes and screens with blue light that just rob you of your strength, one distracted second after another.

And in the middle of all that noise, may I just give you one piece of instruction. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praise-worthy, seek those things.

Don't admire them. Don't nod at them. Seek them!

Hunt them. Chase them. Build your life around those things. A man who will do that. A boy. A young man who will do that, will become different. Noticeably different.

He will stop letting the culture feed him garbage. He stops applauding the trivial. He stops laughing at the obscene or cheering for the cruel.

He will become a curator of -- of real, lasting beauty in an age that has forgotten what beauty even looks like.

When other men are chasing down or holding up cynicism, this man holds up hope!

When everyone around him is chasing dopamine, he chooses discipline. When others will blame their circumstance, he'll take responsibility for his own action. When the world worships the shallow, he goes and searches for the deep!

You want to know what the secret of becoming strong is, or becoming trusted, or becoming the kind of man that your future wife, your future children, your future nation can depend on?

Here it is!

You become what you seek. If you seek trash, you become trash. If you seek virtue, you become a man of virtue. You seek excellence, and your life will begin to shine, not loudly, but steadily. Like the steel glow of a blade being forged.

That's who you'll be.

The world has a plentiful, seemingly never-ending supply of angry boys. We don't need any more addicted boys.

We don't need any more distracted boys. The world needs men. Whole men. Clear-eyed men.

Men whose souls are anchored to something higher than the algorithms, trying to own them!

Build a life worthy of admiration. Forget about the applause. Fill your mind with words that make you wiser. Fill your days with work, hard work, that makes you stronger. Fill your home with beauty that lifts every soul who walks into it.

Have your home a place where people walk in and go, man, I say so great here. I just love it here. I don't know what it is about your house. I just love it. It's the spirit that's there! Because you built it! You protect it.

Protect your integrity like a watchman on the wall. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't steal. And when you fail, and you will, stand back up again.

Because a man who seeks the virtuous, is not a man who never fails. He just -- he just becomes a man who refuses to stay on the ground.

If you seek things that are lovely and pure, trustworthy, praiseworthy, you'll become a kind of man this age almost never produces. A man whose very existence is a rebuke to the darkness.

That's your calling. That's why you were born.

Not to be lost. Not to play video games. Not to give up. Not to say, there's no hope. Not to end up in the trash bin of human history because you've -- you've taken so many drugs, you can't stand up straight anymore.

You're not destined to be alone.

You were destined for great things. You are destined to find an amazing woman!

Believe me. I didn't think I would ever find an amazing woman. Because I didn't think I was worth it. I didn't think I was worth it.

And until I started understanding how God works. That, yeah. I'm not worth any of the stuff that I have.

When you realize, it's all a gift. It's all a gift. And even if you work your brains out, you may not ever get all the things that you want. But you're going to have everything you need. Once you realize, carefully selecting friends makes a difference. My mother used to always say, show me your friends. I will show you your future.

It's true. Be careful who you select as friends. Watch your language. Watch what you're putting into your brain and what's coming out of your mouth. Because the brain is so amazing. It's being turned to mush. Did you know that there is a new study that just came out. I have to tell you about it next week, maybe.

New study going out. It is -- it's AI. And it has access to social media, and they have found that the AI -- the AI that is scrolling through social media all day, just to keep updated on everything that's going on in social media. It's getting brain mush. It's actually becoming dumber. It's become less effective!

It's a machine. What do you think this, flesh and blood, this thing is going to do?

We say life is meaningless. And life is the only thing that has any value. And yet, we spend all of our time, on things like social media. And that has absolutely no value.

But we think that's life.

I'm not that smart. I've just lived a long time. And I've made so many mistakes.

And I decided at one point, I'm going to stop saying, it's somebody else's fault. I'm going to start saying. Maybe -- what did I do to create that?

What did I do to attract that?

Why does this thing keep happening to me?

Why is it that I always find myself involved with these same kind of people?

Because, Glenn, dummy, it's you!

What you think, it's like -- it's like think of yourself as a -- as a beacon. It's just -- you're a beacon. Your GPS pin, that is constantly saying, here I am. Here I am. Here I am.

Except, it's transmitting more than just your location. It's -- it's transmitting what you're looking for, who you are. And it's attracting other dropped pins to you. It's saying, "I like this. I think this way. I believe these things. I am afraid of these things."

Whatever it is, you're thinking. It's constantly putting that out.

And saying, here I am. Is there anything else like that?

Anything else that can reinforce that? Anything else that can live like this?

Because that's me. Here I am. Here I am. Here I am.

That's why you keep finding yourself in exactly the same situations. Nothing will change, if nothing changes!

And the only thing that you can change, is you!

Seek the things, that have virtue.

Seek the things, that have beauty in music, in -- in art, in life, in architecture, in clothing! Whatever it is. Look for real, lasting beauty and value.

Find the things that are true! Truly true.

Universally true. Find the things that uplift. Seek those things!

And you will change your life and your world!

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

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Autism may not be a curse ... "it may be a blessing that we just don’t understand yet,” says Glenn Beck to groundbreaking neuroscientist Dr. Diane Hennacy, whose research into the telepathic powers of autistic children left the nation stunned in “The Telepathy Tapes” podcast series. The pair go on a mind-bending exploration into psychic phenomena, savant syndrome, the secret messages in our dreams, and the possibility of a spiritual meeting place for autistic children guarded by angels. Glenn says, “This will make you reconsider everything you think you know about autism, the brain, ESP, human consciousness, everything.” That is, only if we’re willing to leave “scientism” behind us and embrace the fact that reality is much more than the material world ...